NICHOLAS V, Pope. - Tommaso Parentucelli, b. at Sarzana on 15 Nov. 1397, d. at Rome on 24 March 1455. In the service, at Bologna, of Bishop N. Albergati, he accompanied him on missions abroad, to Rome and Florence; after Albergati's death, Eugene IV, then at Florence, created him vice-chamberlain and on 22 Nov. 1444 bishop of Bologna, where, the city being in revolt, he could not take possession of his see. Sent by the Pope twice to Germany, on his return from the second mission, in Dec. 1446, he received the purple as a reward for having reconciled the League of the prince-electors with the Pope. In the Conclave, after the death of Pope Eugene, on the third day he was unexpectedly elected by the 24 cardinals present, on account of the gentleness of his character, his exemplary life, and his diplomatic experience; grateful to his protector, he took the name Nicholas.
In his not lengthy papacy he concerned himself first of all with extinguishing the remnants of the schism, already much reduced, with maintaining peace, especially in the Papal State, and finally with succoring Constantinople. By concessions he obtained that the antipope of Basel, Felix V, renounce (7 Apr. 1449) in the Council then fled to Lausanne, and the last fathers dissolved it on the 25th. Already on 19 Jan. 1449 Nicholas V had had the Jubilee proclaimed for Christmas, which met with great success; during the year Nicholas V canonized St. Bernardino of Siena, so popular in Italy (d. 1445); the year was afflicted by the plague that raged in the summer. He promoted the reform of ecclesiastical life, especially in Germany through the visitations of Card. Cusanus and of St. John of Capistrano. He maintained peace in his State, removing the condottieri, and especially Sforza, buying back Jesi, confirming many lords as vicars, pardoning the Savelli, the Orsini, and the Colonna, granting broad autonomy to Bologna and to Rome; he paid the debts of his predecessor. On 16 March 1452 he crowned Frederick III of Austria Roman emperor. A painful episode for Nicholas V was the conspiracy of Stefano Porcari, whom he had already so generously pardoned, and he was wounded by the regret shown by the humanists at his execution. Nicholas V sought to succor Constantinople, but the failure to reunite the two Churches, and the Italian and European wars, rendered all his efforts vain. After the city fell, he sought in a congress at Rome to pacify Italy, but in vain. In his last two years his activity was much diminished by the gout that carried him off in 1455: he is buried in the Vatican Grottoes. Nicholas V was the initiator of papal patronage of letters and the arts; at his death he left as many as 807 Latin codices collected throughout Europe; he planned the renewal of the Leonine City and its fortification against the frequent revolts of Rome; the rebuilding of St. Peter's, in conformity with the new artistic tendencies; in the city he restored streets, aqueducts, and monuments; death cut short almost all these great projects. - See plate CXVI.
Bibliography5 works
Luigi Simeoni